Scientific American Supplement, No. 1082, September 26, 1896Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 1082, September 26, 1896
Various
Science -- Periodicals
Very little assistance can really be given as to exposure, but with a
negative of average density, which will give a good silver print, and
using a lens working at F/11 and a Mawson lantern plate at midday in
May, ten seconds will give a good black slide.
There is but one little point that has been missed--the diaphragm;
always use the largest diaphragm which will give satisfactory
definition, this will usually be F/11 or F/16.
Be very careful while exposing not to shake the camera--it is quite
sufficient for anyone weighing about eleven or twelve stones to walk
across the room to give double outlines.
Daylight is not a constant quantity, and although visually the same on
two different days, the actinic power of the light varies enormously;
therefore we prefer artificial light.
Precisely the same apparatus can be used for artificial light with one
or two additions. In some such arrangement in use the printing frame
containing the negative is fastened to the side of a cube sugar box in
which a hole is cut.
Opposite to the negative on the other side of the box is placed a
sheet of white cardboard bent slightly to the arc of a circle. The
lights, etc.--two incandescent gas burners do well with tin reflectors
behind them--are placed one on each side of the negative inside the
box, so that the light is reflected on to the card and thence on to
the negative, and no direct light reaches the negative. Absolutely
even illumination, even of a large negative, is thus obtained, and the
exposure, using the same conditions as stated for daylight, is only
twenty seconds.
Of course, the light may be placed directly behind the negative, but
in this case a diffuser, such as a sheet of opal glass, must be placed
between light and negative, and even then, unless great care is
exercised, uneven illumination of the negative and consequent unequal
density of the slide must ensue.
We may use magnesium ribbon, and a diffuser of opal is then necessary,
and the ribbon must be kept in motion the whole of the time. Magnesium
is objectionable because the particles of magnesia form a voluminous
cloud, which tastes and smells unpleasantly and settles down on
everything. Still, for those who wish to work with this substance,
about 18 inches burnt close to the opal and moved about all over it
will be about sufficient to obtain good results under above mentioned
conditions. An ordinary oil lamp or gas may also be used, provided the
light is diffused.
Only the bromide lantern plates are suitable for reduction, the
exposure, especially with the chloride emulsions, being so long as to
place them out of court. The chloro-bromide may be used for daylight
and magnesium ribbon.
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